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Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

blog.airbnb.com

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Re: Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

#43

Post by mseebach »

BiffDaniels wrote: post #15

I've been meaning to write about the absolutely horrible experience I had using AirBnB in San Francisco recently. It was a nightmare. The place was filthy (the pictures online were taken on their best day ever), the people were unfriendly, the room was small and dank- with no way to even lock the door. It was really, really bad. I suppose it would be worth a gamble if you have the means to change plans on a dime and…

I've used AirBnB twice, in DC (private room) and Paris (studio flat), with absolutely stellar results.

Any industry that's about to be disrupted has similar "horror-stories" (obviously that's also true for industries that then doesn't go on to be disrupted) and the plural of anecdote isn't data.

Re: Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

#44

Post by leon_ »

h6165 wrote: post #36

Makes me jealous as a techie in India, where our rich and famous show very little interest in startups. Congratulations and good luck to AirBnb.

Makes me jealous as a techie in Germany, where our rich and famous show very little interest in startups. ;)

I guess California is just a notable exception to the rule.

Re: Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

#45

Post by wtn »

guynamedloren wrote: post #37
rhygar wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. Are these for show, or do people actually book them? http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20478 (0 reviews, N/A response rate) http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/62627 (0 reviews, N/A response rate) http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21031 (apparently the only customer has been AirBnb itself) http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/55179 (0 reviews, N/A response rate)

I think its just a matter of time. Airbnb is working on establishing itself as a major player in the travel industry, and they're not quite at the luxury villa stage yet. I imagine it takes a lot to win over the demographic who can afford these places, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

Even if there were reviews, it's impossible to discern astroturfing from legit information. National and international hotel chains do not have this problem.

Re: Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

#48

Post by OoTheNigerian »

I think you guys are being unnecessarily hard on Kutcher. It is a flawed assumption that being a celebrity (sportsman, musician) means you have no additional value.

There are medical doctors than when on to play football (the real one); Nigeria has a Cornell Physics PhD candidate that does rap. etc.

Why do you guys (critics) believe you can add better value to AirBnB than Aston.

I believe celebrities need to do a little bit extra to show they are more than what is seen on TV.

So take a moment to stop beefing and say

Congrats AirBnB for a nice coup.

Re: Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

#49

Post by ignifero »

numair wrote: post #32

Some of the comments here on HN about this are quite amusing, especially since many of the people who poo-poo Ashton's involvement in tech have no issues with a normal VC investment in a company. How is Ashton any more annoying than the concept of some random dude thinking he knows whether or not your idea will fly, simply because he was entrusted with tens (if not hundreds, or even thousands!) of millions dollars' w…

I think it's because he has no expertise on technology, can give you zero advice, will actually probably give you the wrong advice, cannot help you with your scaling or implementation issues, cannot refer you to the right technical people when you need it. The one thing that silicon valley has that none of us in the rest of the world have is a vibrant network of like minded, able and willing to help people. It's perfectly ok to invest, but I guess that doesn't make you part of the silicon valley. Plus it's the old nerds/jocks war.
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